The Cove of The Water Witch
by Swords Divine Light
Summary: She always had a special area just to herself- where no one seemed to dare tread but the foolhardy and sorely mistaken. That was when she found a pale woman that maybe cared about it just as much as she did.


AN: I don't know what happened other than it progresses fast, was ended with the ability to write more if people want more, and the idea smacked me in the face while I was driving because I get inspiration at the dumbest moments possible. (Like washing the dishes, or helping customers at work...)

Lapis Lazuli can honestly say that there's no better place to call home than her own little alcove hidden away from the world beside the ocean.

How anyone else hasn't already found it is a miracle, but that why's and how's are unimportant when she can lounge about in the water all day or night without question.

The familiar churning of waves as they crash upon the rocks a few meters out is her lullaby, and the sun kissing her skin her security blanket in the familiar embrace of the sea breeze whispering across her skin.

She has spent countless hours in the depths of that ocean alcove. Taken naps in the shade, splashed and swam through the water, and taken every opportunity to enjoy every possible waking moment there with what can only be a water-lovers fantasy, sand catching itself in her hair and sundress without fail.

She does not speak a word of it to anyone. It is hers, and for now, hers alone.

Because the rocks and salt water understand her, and she understands it back in turn. She is one with the ocean, and if she thinks harder on the sensations, she swears she can feel the push and pull of it in her fingertips.

This is her heart's home, and nothing can change that.

xXxXx

She believes that no one else knows of her own personal heaven. And perhaps that is true. Though to a degree she wonders why that might be, because if anyone took the time to walk off just a short distance, they'd likely come to find themselves face to face with the dark-skinned teenager playing around in the water and sand like a child.

If she is to be completely honest, that is why she searched for a place like this in the first place.

Eventually the maternal glares pointed straight into your back right under your blue-dyed hair can begin to make you really uncomfortable, especially the mutterings of 'water witch' that begin to reach your ears.

It burns worse than the sun, she muses, but that's alright.

She considers that maybe that's why no one comes here during the day. They know the "crazy, immature" girl that used to thrive in water is back there and might steal their children like some sort of siren.

She's unsure of where that notion came from, but she doesn't care, because maybe they're right.

Because she believes, if she had the chance, she'd try to steal the ocean for herself.

xXxXx

She tries to believe that her own little alcove is like an extension of her own personal being, so when a searing pain erupts somewhere in her chest, rather than be worried, she runs straight from her apartment in town to her alcove, intent on finding the disturbance regardless of the fact that the hour is pressing on 10 and she only has a thin nightgown.

The moonlight is her guide, and as she makes hazy but familiar steps down the beach, makes a few turns, and nearly knocks into a bucket of water, she is surprised by two things only. Everything is the same, aside from the running graffiti stains of ' _Water Witch'_ , and a pale woman stroking the rock in soothing, careful strokes with a paint-stained rag.

Her eyes widen. There is a stranger in her home, and with the utmost confusion, she stands, watches, stares, and waits, breathing, for the woman to notice her and explain the care being displayed to what might be unfamiliar territory.

She glows in the moonlight, skin near-translucent and hair fiery as she scrubs, an ethereal look keeping Lapis at a distance yet entranced, her heart a traitor as it beats an erratic tune in her chest.

She goes to dip her rag in her bucket again, catches the figure of blue from her eye, and turns, a bit startled, and stares herself. Two sets of eyes locking in a stare down of contemplation and question.

Lapis gets to her knees beside the woman, picks up a dry rag from her small pile of them, and with a dip in the water- begins to scrub.

She supposes she can share with this stranger, if she takes the care to look after her alcove.

xXxXx

She is happy that the graffiti is gone, but that leaves her, in the heat of the summer sun, to wonder why she's never seen the pale-skinned woman before.

She spends the day relaxing, waiting, and thinks about the possibilities.

And with the lulling waves, she falls asleep in her own alcove on the beach, content and at peace.

xXxXx

Her eyes flutter open to the sight of a blurry, white blob in her vision.

She rolls over, groans, and a soft chuckle meets her ears.

She jolts then, sitting up and nearly knocking foreheads with the woman a who's face is suddenly only a few inches away.

Both are a bit startled, but she quickly falls back, heart pounding in a mix of apprehension and delight.

 _"Who are you?"_

The woman's cheeks flush, and she seems apologetic. "I'm so sorry! My name is Pearl." Her hand goes to her chest, and she looks away briefly.

 _"Lapis."_ She is offered a smile, and this woman- Pearl, smiles back.

 _"I don't see you hear often. Do you only come at night...?"_

Pearl's eyebrows furrow, and she seems maybe embarrassed.

"Yes, it's... more peaceful."

Lapis smiles, and she eagerly chatters with Pearl until she's forced to reluctantly leave, vowing to come back the next night.

xXxXx

She lounges back and waits, greeted by the soft shifting of sand as the only other known occupant makes her way to what is now the your collective special spot.

It occurs to Lapis that for the few weeks she's been here, just talking or sharing the silence with the woman beside her as they watch the ocean, she's never seen her during the day.

"I know you've said you don't really like the beach during the day, but it's still peaceful."

Her cheeks flush again, and she sighs, flopping back so that the sand is caught in her hair, and she can let if sift through her fingers while she lays on the every-changing surface.

She tries again, maybe pushing a bit harder than she ever wanted.

 _"If it makes you feel any better, everyone calls me 'water witch' on the other side of the beach-"_

"I can't go out in the sun much. "

Lapis gives her a look, and wants to bite her tongue as she realizes, perhaps, that her curiosity was incidentally a bit rude.

She stays silent, so Pearl finishes.

"My skin is pale- a really disgusting pale... and well, it's sensitive. It'll burn and blister and make me sick if I stay in the sun unprotected too long."

Lapis hums, and moves her hand to grip the other's in apology, running her thumb over the finger pads of each digit.

She seems to jump, before relaxing into the gesture, smiling and lacing her fingers back in return.

They stay like that until they are forced to part, drawn together by the sheer love of the ocean.

xXxXx

 _"So, what do you even do in your free time?"_

Lapis tilts her head, watching Pearl's features skeptically as she answers.

"I'm a dancer. I used to come here to practice."

 _"O-oh, sorry."_ Lapis scratches her neck, biting her lip. _"I just swam all the time."_

Pearl rolls her eyes.

"That's not that obvious or anything."

They sit in comfortable silence, and Lapis goes to speak.

 _"Why don't you dance with me a bit?"_

"Now? But, why?"

 _"Because this is apparently her evil lair. The water witch."_

"What does that have to do with anything?"

 _"She wants a dance to appease her watery-rage!"_ She laughs to herself, snorting at her own humor, but smiling none-the-less.

Pearl seems stunned, but she picks herself from the sand, offering a hand to Lapis.

"I suppose we can. If that will be what it takes to appease her watery-rage."

They smile in unison, get into position, and start to swirl, hands on backs and shoulders and fingers laced.

The water is their music, waves giving them a rhythm and beat, but Lapis is more entranced by the silver-slitted eyes suddenly intense in her own.

Their hearts are one with the ocean, and as their spinning brings them to an end and they stumble, laughing and chorusing their joy as they fall into the sand, one over the other, Lapis brings her lips to slant over the other woman's in pure, unadulterated happiness.

She stops herself, pulling back hastily and about to apologize until a soft smile meets her eyes, and a hand is wound into her hair, tugging her back down gently so that her lips are gliding over Pearl's again in slow, sure strokes.

A few extra kisses are shared with the ocean as their witness, and she is on the tip of her toes waiting for the next night that she can see Pearl.

xXxXx

The next night she is sure her heart shatters, because until the morning rays pass over her tired, bloodshot eyelids, she is the sole occupant of the cove of the _water witch_.

 _She wonders if it's the kiss, and she sighs, relenting that perhaps she's lost her only companion aside from the ocean and it's soothing song in her ears._

xXxXx

She comes down during the day instead after a few hours of sleep.

The shade hides her, and she sits, anxiety clawing at her feet as she lets the waves wash over her toes, trying to keep from thinking too much, hunched with her arms wrapped around her legs.

A hand on her shoulder nearly makes her screech, and as she whirls, she is surprised to find Pearl planting a large umbrella in the sand a few paces behind her own spot.

She smiles at her, sitting in the shade of the umbrella and beckoning her to come back and join her.

Lapis crawls over, a bit hesitant but not one to deny the other's request.

"I'm sorry I didn't come last night. There was a bit of an emergency."

 _"It's alright, I didn't stay long."_

Pearl catches the lie easily, scooting forward to gently cup her chin in her hands and tilt her face towards her own for inspection.

"There are bags under your eyes. I know better, y'know."

Lapis's eyes skirt to the ocean, only to shoot back when a kiss is placed to her cheek, her heart fluttering.

"I'm sorry."

 _"It's alright. It was an emergency after all."_ Lapis takes Pearl's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as she brought the knuckles to her lips.

 _"So, why did you come down during the day, anyway?"_

Pearl tilts her head, shrugging.

"I felt bad that I'd jilted you. It wasn't intentional of course, but... I knew you'd be here, and I wanted to make it up to you somehow." Pearl smiles again, her eyes twinkling in a way that makes Lapis respond in turn.

 _"You could make it up to me by maybe considering some sort of... relationship?"_

Pearl blushes, but she does not say no, or indicate discomfort. Instead, she leans in, her lips grazing Lapis's in a way that makes their hearts flutter and minds draw blanks.

"Of course."

Lapis beams

For now, she is ecstatic, and the waves mirror her heart and happiness as they crash into the beach.

 _"That's right, you better appease the water witch, or she'll drag you into the ocean!"_

She tackles Pearl about as carefully as possible, smiling and laughing as they land in a heap of limbs on the sand.

She is rewarded with another kiss.

 _The water Witch is pleased._


End file.
